A week in Antigua

So after almost going back to Guatemala City we get off the bus in Antigua in the middle of a parking lot that serves as the bus terminal. We´re not sure where we want to go and it´s already pretty late, around 9pm. As we´re looking for a place to stay, we end up meeting a guy named Pablo who speaks decent English. Him and is buddy Eddie ¨apparently¨ work for the city tourism board and are being extremely helpful. Of course as a traveler Cramer and I are both aprehensive about anyone helping too much. There´s usually always a catch, but both guys are genuinely good guys. They are pretty hilarious too and we end up getting a couple of beers with them, while practicing our baby like Spanish. They do know a cheap hotel nearby and they can get us set up for some Spanish classes if we want them. We decide to think it over and let them know in the morning. After thinking it over we decide it might be a good idea to get a few hours of Spanish lessons to make it easier to communicate.

The next day Eddy and Pablo take us to a house that serves as both a boarding house/hostel and the place where will be getting tutored in Spanish. The house is off one of the main streets on a side street and has about 7 rooms for rent. The family lives in the front part of the house where there is living room, dining room, a small kitchen, and a room where they sleep. If we stay in the house we also get 3 meal a day included. So basically we get 20 hours of Spanish lessons and five nights of room and board for about $180. Which sounds great since we´ve been burning through about $100/day for awhile. We accept the offer and get a pretty large room with two nice size beds. The rest of the house is populated by a rather strange cast of characters. Some have been living in the house for months, others just like us have stayed for only a week or so. Antigua is a hot bed for people all over the world to come to learn Spanish and also do volunteer work. Many of the people staying in the house are college kids from the states doing some kind of volunteer work for the summer that relates to their majors. Others are Europeans traveling, learning Spanish, or volunteering as well. It´s a pretty international mix in the house with people from Germany, USA, Switzerland, France, England, and the family from Guatemala. The guys we meet from the States are all pretty young and seem to be having a great time. It seems like a pretty cool and adventurous thing to do for a college kid to spend their summer volunteering in a foreign country. With so many college kids down here it´s a pretty big party for them almost any night of the week. Breakfast is served at 7:30am, lunch is at 1pm, and dinner is at 7:30pm. If we can´t make one of the meals we need to tell Mama, the lady of the house, so she knows not to prepare food for us. It´s pretty fun sitting down with a bunch of strangers at the dinner table for multiple meals hearing their tales of travel, sordid love affairs, and misadventures. Through out the week we hang out with various people in the house.
We begin our first lesson that very afternoon at 2pm. We´re suppose to do 5 hours of Spanish each day for 4 days. This seems like a good idea until we actually start. Now I have a little background is Spanish, taking 4 years in high school, but Cramer has no prior knowledge. My teacher is named Juan Buruillo and he´s about 57 or so. He doesn´t speak much English, but is really funny and patient. Cramer´s teacher is named Mario and he´s about 59, and was on the Guatemalan national soccer team for 15 years. Both of our teachers are excellent, but they don´t have much to work with between the two of us. Our brain´s start to melt down at about the 3 hour mark. We tell them we´re going to have to switch to 4 hours for 5 days instead. Which really turns out to be about 3 and half hours a day, because that´s all we can handle. They give us about a semester´s worth of Spanish in 18 hours or so, which is overwhelming. But they want to give us enough so we can continue studying it as we travel. The first few days Cramer and I study a little in the morning and then come back to the house for lunch at one, then do our class from 2 to about 5:30. Eat dinner at 7:30, then go roam around town for awhile before coming back and passing out fairly early to do it all over again.

Antigua is often considered one of the best cities in Guatemala if not all of Central America. It is definitely the main tourist city in Guatemala. But while there are many tourists the city stays true to its colonial and Guatemalan roots. It is fairly small, yet has a lively energetic feel. The city retains the wonderful colorful Spanish architeture complete with many old crumbling colonial churches. Many of the churches were partially destroyed during the many earthquakes that have occured over the last few hundred years there. Many volcanoes surround the city, with volcanoes Agua and Fuego, the two biggest, towering over the city. The city has cobblestone roads, wonderful restaurants, and an incredible central park. The area around central park is where most of the action takes place. People hang out here during the day and night and there are many Mayan women selling their goods, while tourists, locals, and others come and go. I can´t believe the number of awesome and cool looking restaurants and bars. Everything retains that traditional feel, yet with an updated twist. Compared to much of the other parts of Guatemala, Antigua seems to be very prosperous and foreign investors are pouring money into the bars and restaurants around town.

While we´re here people keep telling us about the festival that is taking place. The city is celebrating their patron saint, St. James, over the weekend and there will be music, dancing, food, and partying. As we walk through the streets at various times over the weekend there are student groups marching and dancing, people dressed up in costumes dancing, marching bands playing in the street, fireworks, and small parades. At night the festivities focus around the Central Parque, where food vendors are out and music is being played by a full band.

After getting burnt out a little by the Spanish we´re trying to learn, Cramer and I decide to climb one of the nearby volcanoes, Pacaya, the next day (Sunday). Our Spanish class is in the morning and then we´ll head off to the volcano around 2pm. It is about an hour away by mini van and there is a whole crew again packed in. Just about every tour we meet people from all over the world, this time is no exception. When we get to the base of the volcano there are guys trying to get us to take a horse up, I may be out of shape, but not that out of shape yet. Other kids are trying to rent us walking sticks. Cramer rents one for 3 quetzales (50 cents). We walk up with little problems other than profuse sweating, but that´s normal. The guide tells us that Pacaya exploded last year and killed a journalist. The top was blown off in a similar fashion to Mt. St. Helens, but not nearly as devastating. When we get to the highest point we can go, we begin cutting across the side of the volcano. The ground is quite treacherous, because we are walking in loose gravelly volcanic rock. After walking across the wasteland with steam pouring out of vents, similar to Mt. Doom in the Lord of the Rings, we stop. One of the people on the tour brought marshmellows and we will be roasting them in the vents. Immense heat is coming off certain spots on the volcano and our group enjoys the brown gooey toasty treat as a result. We head back down, not with out a little drama, as an elderly man on the tour can´t make it down. We wait until a guy on a horse rides up to bring him down. A little tired and dirty we head back to town for the night.

It´s Monday and it´s our last Spanish class. Before class we hike up to a place called Cerro de a Cruz. Which is a big hill overlooking the whole town that has a big cross up on it. It has a great view of the entire city. We finally head back down and get ready for our class. After about an hour of tutoring Cramer says it´s time to go to a restaurant or bar. We had planned on taking our teachers out for a few drinks and food, so we all say let´s do it. We end up going to a Chinese restaurant that my teacher likes. We all order a bunch of food and some liters of Gallo. (Gautemala´s #1 beer) We practice our Spanish the best we can and have a great time with our teachers. Both of us have defintely improved and we´re happy with our experience. After a few more beers and food we say farewell. Later that night we walk down by the Central Parque where we´re treated to some more great music and street food. It´s a great way to cap off the week. The next day we´re going to Lake Atitlan about 3 hours way in the highlands. The next morning at 7am we say farewell to Mama and thank her for the food and hospitality and grab the next chicken bus to Lake Atitlan.

One short night in Flores-> Buses to Antigua

So we take off out of Tikal in a mini van blasting some 80´s love songs. Cramer is passed out in the back with his head bouncing around like a rag doll. One hour later we´re in Flores. I decide on a place out of the Lonely Planet guide called Hotel La Union. We´re both exhausted from the early morning hike and throw our bags on the bed. I head across the street to hit the internet for awhile. Outside the sky opens up and it just pours for about 20 minutes complete with ear splitting thunder. It always takes awhile to adapt to each new city we enter. It usually takes a night or so to get into the flow of the city. Flores is a really cool and unexpected city. It´s has a population of about 10,000 and is situated on a small island in Lake Peten Itza. Flores is clean, colorful, and full of colonial style buildings. After being through many cities down here, most of them pretty run down, Flores is like a shining jewel. It´s full of shops and restaurants, many with balconies over looking the lake. It´s still early afternoon and I´m still trying to feel the FLOW of Flores when I see Stephanie, one of our German friends that we keep running into, standing in the street talking to a couple of people. They´re staying right across the street from us. The plan, according to Stephanie, is for all of us to go down on the dock right next to our place and swim. I´m down, but Cramer is going to sit this one out. Suddenly there is a huge crew of people down on the dock all ready to jump in. I end up meeting a guy, Dan, and his sister both who are from Mequon, WI. Next thing I know there is an international dive off going on. There are people from Germany, USA, Ireland, Denmark, and a few other countries too. There are some ugly dives, but the water is warm and the company is good. After swimming I´m definitely feeling good about Flores. After awhile we all head back to our rooms to clean up. We meet up again with most of the same crew for beers and pizza. It´s funny, because we bring in our own beer to the restaurant and they don´t even care. We end up haning out with our new friends for awhile drinking and improving the world´s impression of Americans. Cramer and I are like ambassadors, changing one foreigner´s mind at a time. So far so good. Our plan is to leave Flores the very next morning and head to Antigua. So after a few too many drinks we head back home to get some sleep before another long day of buses. Joy! I wish we would have stayed here a night longer. This is a chilled out city with some great scenery, good restaurants and bars, and a nice central location for seeing other sites. Flores is a great city to stay in to see Tikal and other sites in the area. If I´m back this way again I´ll definitely stay here a few more nights.

The next morning we´re packed and ready to go. The tuk tuk (yes they have tuk tuk here too) takes us to the bus station and we load our stuff in the bus. We have got a coach bus, but that doesn´t really mean much more comfort. The bus smells strongly of flower perfume, like old lady perfume. It´s fine if its just for a few minutes, but it´s literally burnng a hole in my brain and doesn´t seem to go away the whole trip. I think I´m going to puke. The AC vents go from being too cold, to too warm. I just alternate between being warm and clammy and cold and clammy, neither which are good. They have two movies playing during the trip, Man on Fire with Denzel Washington and A Baby´s Day Out. They´re both in Spanish, Man on Fire is a decent movie and I´m watching most of it, but the volume is on level 10 and the speaker is a foot from my head. I even have my noise cancelling head phones on and the sound just cuts right through them. 8 long hours later we arrive in Guatemala City. Guatemala City is huge, dirty, and dangerous. Atleast that´s what we´ve heard, but we have no interest in staying here any way. We grab a taxi to the nearet Chicken Bus station and hop on the next one leaving for Antigua, which happens to be about 2 minutes after we get on. Remember Chicken Buses are just old US school buses painted up in cool colors and serve as the cheap mode of transportation down here. There are a lot of rumors about why they´re called Chicken Buses, some say because people bring Chickens on them. Other say it´s because they pack so many on the bus, it´s like Chickens in a cage. Either way they´re cheap and leave often. Its only $1 to get to Antigua. It´s about 7pm at this time and there is only a few people on the bus. I´m thinking that this will be a great trip, windows down, plenty of room, only one more hour until Antigua. Well about 10 stops later and the bus is packed to the gills, every seat is taken with 3 people to a seat. Everyone else stands packed shoulder to shoulder in the aisles. Persnonally I like being on these better than the coach buses, because atleast I can put the window down or up to adjust the temperature. Unfortunately the seats are not very comfortable so about a 2 hour ride is about the lenght ones ass can hold up. About 50 stops and 90 minutes later we pull into Antigua, which is only about 30 miles away from Guatemala City. Cramer and I our waiting for the bus to pull into a bus station, but it never does. We almost get stuck on the bus as it goes back to Guatemala City. We scream at the driver who finally stops and then slither slowly through the packed bus with our huge packs. We left Flores at about 10am and finally arrive in Antigua about 10 hours later. Time to find a place to stay...

TIKAL, Guatemala

I woke up the next day feeling better. Still not 100%, but better than before. I grabbed some meds from the pharmacy and we grab a quick breakfast from a place called Erza´s. Another really good restaurant in San Ignacio. I look at my watch and it´s already past 10am we´re suppose to share a taxi with Stephanie and Markus, our German friends, to the border of Belize and Guatemala. We hurry back to our hotel to find them waiting for us with a taxi. They´re going to Flores, a small town south of Tikal, and we´re going straight to Tikal to see the ruins there. The ride goes smoothly to the border. Getting through the border isn´t as easy. In Belize everyone speaks some English and Spanish, in Guatemala most people speak only Spanish. As soon as we exit the taxi the money changers are in our face trying to give us Guatemalan Quetzales for our Belizean money. It´s slightly overwhelming especially when since I feel like the guy is trying to rip me off. Actually it´s not a terrible exchange rate, but it´s not that great either. I exchange about $20 and exit out of Belize, but not without having to pay for a $18 departure tax. Now in Guatemala things don´t get any easier. It seems like no one speaks English here. Even the immigration people can´t speak a word of it. Luckily I have just enough brain cells left to remember some of the tiny amount of Spanish I learned from 4 years of high school. Once on the other side we are occosted by taxi drivers promising to take us any where for large sums of money. In the confusion we say good bye to our fellow German travelers. Suddenly another guy offers to take us all the way to Tikal for a good price. We accept and hop in his beat up old Toyota Camry. Off we go speeding into the Guatemalan countryside. The landscape is starting to get hillier and more beautiful. About an hour and a half later we arrive at the Jungle Lodge a hotel right outside the gates of the Tikal ruins. We are now thick in the jungle and exotic animals and plants surround us on all sides.

The grunds of the Jungle Lodge are beautifully manicured and the buildings are impressive.

We take a room, but are disappointed by its spartan offerings: Two crappy beds, a weak

ceiling fan, and a musty smell. We don´t care since we are only here to see the ruins and are leaving the very next day. It is great to be away from the cars and traffic of San Ignacio. The jungle is immense and exudes a welcoming tranquility to my soul. The whole place is completely empty except for ourselves and a few other travelers. They do have a pool as well and we have it all to ourselves. So Cramer and I chill by the pool in the shade of the jungle canopy for the rest of the afternoon. We sign up for the sunrise tour of Tikal that leaves at 4am, so we won´t be getting much sleep. We grab dinner and then try to pass out. Unfortunately the bad thing about the jungle is it´s hot and humid and so is the room. The weak ceiling fan just spins ineffectively exuding an annoying sound. Outside the bugs and other creatures of the night are blaring loud and clear. I feel like I´m immersed in an inch or two of water, due to the sweat and humidity. I toss and turn for about 5 hours, maybe catching an hour or so of sleep. Cramer isn´t as lucky telling me he didn´t fall asleep at all. At 4am there is a loud knock on the door. It´s Antonio our tour guide. Antonio reminds me of Tony Montonya from the movie Scarface. Except image him as a chain smoker at the age of 55. The guy is a good guide, but he´s weezing up a storm while we walk and has a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. We head into Tikal at about 4:30am. It is completely dark and Antonio is the only one with a flashlight. We see some early ruins and a few carvings before taking a short cut through the jungle to Temple IV.

On the way we see a tarantula and and hear the howler monkeys coming awake. We get to the temple a little while latter and climb the stairs. Antonio stops half way up out of breath and I´m worried he´s not going to make it. We continue on up to the top. This is the highest temple in Tikal and maybe all of Central America. It´s towering over the canopy and we can see all around us for miles. In the distance there are 3 or 4 more temples sticking out of the canopy as well. There are about 20 other people up there waiting for the sunrise. It is extremely quiet and calm. Some people are taking pictures others are meditating. There is definitely an aura of peacefulness in the air. Unfortunately it is a cloudy day so we can´t see the sun come up, but the whole jungle comes to life as we watch and listen. After enjoying the scene for awhile we head down to see the rest of Tikal.

Antonio takes us on a great tour around the whole grounds. What´s great about Tikal compared to many other Mayan sites like Chitchen Itza, etc. is that it´s completely in the jungle and to get to the various temples and buildings you have to walk through the forest. This is great, because there is a lot of wildlife around. We see spider monkeys, tucans, parrots, grey foxes, tarantulas, insects, coati, and other animals as we walk. We continue walking around the huge grounds taking in all the sights

comtemplating what it would have looked like 1000´s of years ago. It is amazing what many of these cultures could achieve in the past. Tikal was at it´s height from about 200 to 900AD. Unfortunately Tikal relied almost solely on seasonal rains to fill giant man made reseviors for water. When prolonged drought hit the area around 900AD the city was abandoned. Many Mayan cities were abandoned around this same time.

We end the tour in the main plaza which contains the most famous of the temples: The Temple of the Great Jaguar. We snap a few more shots, thank Antonio for the tour, and head for the exit. Both of us are wiped out from the lack of sleep. We need to catch a bus down to Flores next and one leaves in about two hours. I want nothing more than to sit by the pool, but my hopes are dashed when they´re cleaning the thing when we get back. We pack our stuff and secure a ride for about $6 each down to Flores, which is about 45 minutes away. Tikal was great to see, but the lack of sleep and humidity has hit us hard. We say goodbye to Tikal, and cruise on off to Flores.

San Ignacia part 2 : The ATM cave!

Cramer and I had booked a tour the day before called the ATM tour. Everyone we talked to had said it was a must see. It seemed a little pricey at $75, but with such high recommendations it has to be worth it. At 7:15am I'm still in trying to make sure I have everything out of me before I have to sit in a van for an hour. I'm not feeling a 100 percent, but I'll have to make it one way or another. ATM stands for Actun Tunichil Muknal. We board the van with 12 other people mostly from the states and a couple from the Netherlands. After about an hour we arrive at the destination. We first must trek through the jungle before we get to the mouth of the cave. Before we left we were told to wear running shoes or some kind of aqua sandal or shoe, because they would be getting wet. As we trek through the jungle we are force to wade through three rivers on our way. After about 45 minutes we come to a small picnic area in the jungle . We are near the cave entrance now. We each eat a little of the food we are given and save the rest for when we get back. I make one more pit stop in the outhouse just to be safe. Then we strap on our helmets and head lamps. Our guides are Louis and Patrick through Mayawalk Tours. The opening to the cave is amazing, like a scene out of Indiana Jones or some other adventure movie. We will have to jump into the river and swim for about 10 meters.
A ponder for a moment as I often do while standing before the mouth of the cave. What does it mean to be a man? Is it when you have kids? When you are married? When you have a good job? Are responsible? Maybe some of these, maybe none of these. In the ancient cultures boys and girls often had to go through some kind of ritual ceremony that was both spiritually, physically, and mentally challenging. They would have to journey into the place of darkness , the place of fear, to go to that place they didn't want to go, but had to go. In Maya culture they were obligated to go into this cave and present offerings to their gods. They believed inside the cave they would be judge both by their ancestors and gods. They would fast and purify themselves for weeks and months before entering. It was a truly terrifying experience with only torches to light their way. But the cave always represents that place that one must return to, to face ones fears, while dying in the process. Only to be reborn into a new creation once the journey was completed. This was what it was like to enter the cave. This was the experience I wanted as well.

We all jumped into the river and swam into the mouth of the cave climbing up onto the rocks inside. The temperature dropped and the water was exhiliratingly cool. We journey deeper and deeper into the cave as we continue up the river. Climbing through narrow passages and up and down dangerous rock structures. The water is at our ankles at times then over our heads and we are forced to swim in other places. Louis, the guide, has us stop every so often to give us information about the cave and the Maya who entered it. We all turn off our headlamps and it is pitch black, no light. Imagining what it would be like for the Maya is incredible, who believed the cave was a living breathing thing. Full of spirits and monsters ready to judge them guilty if not worthy. The Maya would leave offerings in the form of food, liquids, plants, and even humans sacrifices. Sometimes they would come in with a Shaman who would would help them perform rituals. After about an hour of going down the river deeper into the cave we come to a large rock wall. We now scale up about 35 feet and are forced to take off our shoes and wear only our socks. We are now going to the dry chamber where the Maya's would bring their offerings. The cave is huge with large stalactites and stalagmites everywhere that have been formed over millions of years. There is pottery all over the floors and on the walls. Louis leads us through the massive cave showing us human remains and other artifacts. We walk, crawl, and climb through the cave being careful not to walk on any of the artifacts that are lining the cave floor. We finally reach the last chamber in the back of the cave after a couple of hours, climbing a rickety ladder. In the small chamber are some pots and vases, but there is a fully intact skeleton of a young woman who was sacrificed. Her bones have become calcified and crystalized. I say a quick prayer and thank the Mayans for letting us have the chance to see these amazing things. We then head out of the cave going back the way we came. Climbing back down into the chill of the river. This time we pick up the pace as we wade through the river and out of the cave. Everyone is in a great mood as we relish this once in a lifetime experience. Finally we swim back out of the cave into the warmth of the jungle. Hopefully the cave has changed me, helping me to grow in wisdom and experience. We eat a little more and then hike back to the van. The whole time talking to our fellow traveling companions. After returning from the ATM tour I'm completely worn out. The intestinal bug is still with me even though I managed to make it through the cave tour with out any problems. We end up getting back around 6pm and I call it a night. Cramer heads out with our German friends for a few drink and dinner before hitting the sack. Tomorrow we leave for Belize and go to the Mayan ruins in Tikal, Guatemala.

San Ignacio, Belize (Part 1)

We left Caye Caulker at 11:30am by boat, arriving in Belize City about 45 minutes later. A quick taxi ride to the bus stop and we arrive just in time for the chicken bus to San Ignacio. I was looking forward to getting into the country deeper. I love sitting on tropical islands, but after a few days of drinking it´s time to move on. We make our way to the back of the bus. It´s packed full and making frequent stops, but the windows are down and there is a warm breeze blasting in my face. The back of the bus there are a couple of people from Germany, a couple from Montana, and a couple from Montreal. We had all been in Caye Caulker and were now all going to San Ignacio. It´s so easy meeting people, since you have something in common: traveling. Everyone shares their stories about where they´ve been, where they´re going, and a few recommendations. When we get to the bus stop we say farewell to our bus friends and hope to see them again soon.

We end up getting a room on one of the main streets called the Mallorca (My-Orca) Hotel. It´s pretty cheap at about $30 a night and the family running it are extremely hospitable. We go down the street to a local food place called Rosita´s for lunch. It´s own by a husband and wife. The husband´s named Hart, he is a large friendly Belizean fellow. He lets us try some of his special hot sauce. Now I learned my lesson last time, but it doesn´t seem too hot at first. Well of course it takes awhile to burn my mouth but good. Cramer is laughing, because apparently it´s not hot for him. Later at night we walk around the town.

San Ignacio is pretty small at about 15, 000 people. It has a few main streets where all of the bars and restaurants seem to be on. It is on the western part of Belize and is the capital of it´s district (Cayo District). It seems to have a lot of character, but I´m not liking it as much as I thought I would. The guide books described it as quiet during the day and more lively at night. I felt it was extremely busy with cars and trucks and people during the day and more chilled at night. Going from Caye Caulker to San Ignacio is a little bit of a shock mostly due to the cars. I guess I never realized how much more chilled things are when there are no cars and trucks rumbling by and beeping at you constantly. San Ignacio is definitely not the quiet little town I imagined.

Late night we hit a little place called Mr. Greedy´s Bar. It´s an Italian restaurant during the day and a bar at night. We start talking to two local women named Gina and Carla. Both ladies are exremely good looking, well educated, and sophisticated, definitely much classier than either Cramer or me. We talk to them for awhile about Belize. As the night progresses the bar is invaded by archaeologists. Summer college archaeology students are all in the area on various digs. Apparently they have the weekend off to get wasted or something. They´re all from the US and don´t seem very willing to talk to us. One guy named Mike is an older guy with a big grey beard and grey balding hair. He tells us he´s from New York. Manhattan to be exact. He must be close to 70, but has been doing these digs with college kids for the last few years. He is quiet a interesting and inspiring guy. He´s all about siezing the day. Telling us stories about sky diving, being on stage in the New York Opera, and other things. We finally head home after quite a few Belikin Stouts.

The next day we wake up a little groggy. Sleeping in all these different beds without AC in warm humid envirnments can take its toll. It´s Saturday and the town has a large market going on. We go down and check it out. There are a lot of vegetables, fruits, meats, clothing, and all sorts of other items. It´s kind of like a farmers market crossed with a rummage sale. We walk down by the river and watch the kids swim while the adults take buckets of water from the river and wash their cars. After looking at trip advisor online I find out that their are some nearby Mayan ruins about 2 miles out of town. Cramer and I are both up for some physical exercise since we´ve been mostly eating, drinking, and sitting so far this trip. The ruins are a challenging hike up hill out of town. It is a small site, but there are still some impressive building. Plus there are only a few people around so it seems a little more inclusive. The ruins are called Cahal Pech and date from around 900BC to 800AD. After awhile we head back to town, sweating all the way.

Later that night we go across the street to the restaurant called Ko-Ox-Han Nah. It is the top recommendation in the Lonely Planet guide. When I go in I see Stephanie and Markus, the German´s we met on Caye Caulker and who were on the bus with us. They are playing Yatze and invite us to join them. After having dinner we play a game of Yatze then go to the Blue Angel to play some pool. The Blue Angel is some kind of dance club, which is playing terrible music, but it´s the only place with a pool table so we stay. After playing well the first game I fall apart and the German´s beat us 3 games to 1. So sad. We play on final game of Yatze down at Mr. Greedy´s bar and then call it a night. On the way home I end up buying a hotdog from a street vendor, since I´m now a little bit sick of tacos and rice and beans. Maybe it´s karma, but it turns out to be a big mistake. 4am I´m up running to the toilet. Montezuma is definitely having his revenge now. I´m praying I´ll be ok by 7:30am when we leave for the cave tour we booked the day before.

Chilling in Caye Caulker

I woke up the next morning about 9am with a slight hang over from too much rum punch. I head down to the internet cafe to blog and then find Cramer for a little lunch. A guy named Reina is selling fresh banana bread and meat pies out of a little cart on the street. The meat pies are like little pot pies and are common down here. They're cheap and tasty at 50 cents a piece. Reina tells us that the locals all eat at a place called Syd's. So we walk over there. The island is small and there are only a few main streets. You can walk to the end of one part to the other fairly quickly. That's another thing that makes this place so great. No cars. Everyone has a bike or they get driven around by golf cart taxis. It makes a huge difference in creating that laid back old school vibe. There are no huge resorts either. The island is full of little hotels (mostly 2 to 3 stories), bars, restaurants, and home owned by the locals. Just like anywhere in poorer countries the locals live in smaller less impressive dwellings. But here it all seems to blend together and it just seems natural. The people are laid back and even when trying to sell you something aren't pushy. Syd's is only a short walk from the hotel. They have a lot of different choices, but they're famous for their fried chicken and beans and rice. It even comes with a fried plantain and some coleslaw. Cramer and I order an appetizer of Ganashes after I see a local family eating a huge plate of them. They're just tostadas with some beans, cheese, and some onion. They're only 25 cents a piece. By the time our food comes we've already killed our appetites, but that doesn't stop us from tearing into some tasty fried chicken... Colonel Sanders better watch out.
After a huge meal we decide to walk the island and check out the split. The split is the place where people go to swim and drink. Caye Caulker is actually two islands that is split in half. Almost everyone stays on the southern island and the northern part of the southern island is called the split. Apparently back in 1961 Hurricane Hatti created the split by leaving a small river running through the island. People then dug it out to create a channel so boats could get to the other side quicker and easier.

There is a cool bar at the split called the Lazy Lizard. People are all drinking and swimming and enjoying themselves. Reggae and Punta rock is blasting on the speakers. The currents in the split are moving very fast so I have to be careful no to get too far out. While sitting at the Lazy Lizard, we see a bunch of people crowding around a big black guy, taking pictures. I guess the guys been in some movies, but I don't even recognize him. Then it clicks.... It's Big Worm from the Friday movies. I think most recently he's been in Couples Retreat. Too funny.


After a few too many beers I start talking to a local girl named Kimmy. She is a real funny person and starts giving my a back massage. Well somehow I have a new girlfriend now! I hang out with Kimmy for a few hours, she's a real sweet heart. Everyone knows her on the island and she is friends with everyone. We go to the internet cafe and I set her up with an email and Facebook account! We end up going to the I and I Reggae bar to end the night, which is right by our hotel. I say goodbye and take off around midnight.

The next morning Cramer and I are up early to sign up for a snorkeling trip through Raggamuffin tours. We sign up for the half day trip which runs about 25 dollars and takes you by sailboat to the local reef at three different spots. Our guides are a couple of Belizean rasta guys. They're very friendly and cool. The reef off of Belize runs all the way down to Honduras and is the second largest reef next to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The first stop we get out in about 8 feet of water with sandy bottom. The guys from the boat start throwing pieces of fish in the water and huge schools of manta rays and nurse sharks come swimming all around us. I reach out and pet a couple of the mantas, but I'm a little wary of that stinger! I can't quite get close enough to pet the nurse shark. There were some other fish swimming by too like a barracuda. The next two stops took us to the coral reef where we got to see the different corals and hundreds of fish. The corals weren't very bright, but overall a very good experience. I love being down there swimming with the fish. I think I'm going get my scuba diving license when we get to Roatan, Honduras.


We hit Syd's for part two and pass out for a quick nap in the AC. After a few drinks we start walking down the beach to see what's happening. Getting hungry again, we see a woman selling stuff of her cart on the side of the road. Her name is Ms. Rose and she has the real deal. I get the stewed pork, rice and beans, potato salad and some kind of local garish of onion on the rice and beans. All for about 4 dollars, which is a great price around here. It's the best meal I've had since I've been here. We sit at a picnic table by the ocean and end up talking to a family while we eat that's from Virginia. They travel all over the world constantly, because the husband works for a university and gets paid to teach classes in different countries. The guy's name is Scott and his wife's name is Kim and they have two kids one 13 and the other about 10. They just got to the island, but turns out they're going to be seeing almost all of the same stuff as us. They even leave a few days after us from Costa Rica too.

It's our last night on the island so Cramer and I go back to the Reggae Bar. A couple of young women named Kendra and Melissa are with us that we met on our way to the bar. Both just got here, one from Belize city and another one from Honduras. Unfortunately I think these girls are trying to make an honest living... if you know what I mean. As the night progresses different bars become the hot spot. At first everyone is at the reggae bar until midnight, then everyone heads to Oceanside bar. Before we leave the the bar, Cramer and I start talking to a couple of British guys who are very cool. We've met a lot of students and others in college doing field work down here. On the snorkeling trip we met a bunch of British people who were doing marine biology work in the reefs. Another group from Texas was doing excavations on one of the islands looking for colonial artifacts (pirate stuff!). Many other are doing digs in the jungles too. These British guys were traveling through Central America too and we're going to many of the same places. We finally end the night at a bar called Jello which is like a dance club. We finally say goodbye to our lovely lady friends and head home stopping for some more street food! Hahaha, and I thought I was going to lose weight down here. We start talking to a rasta guy on the street and suddenly the cops pull up. They think were buying drugs or something. They give us a pretty thorough search before sending us on our way. My motto is Hugs not Drugs, officer!

All in all Caye Caulker is a great place. Highly recommended. If you're not into the big resorts and want a little bit more authentic experience, more similar to the islands in the Caribbean, check out Caye Caulker. It's laid back, reasonably priced, and they speak English, which really makes a difference. I did spend about twice as much as I thought I'd spend, but when you're on an island even one a little more consumer friendly the money goes quick.

Now we're going back to Belize City and then heading west to San Ignacio in western Belize. I'm going to have to enjoy the ocean breeze for a few more minutes, because now we head into the jungle for awhile! Chicken buses and profuse sweating here we come!

A Journey of a Thousand Miles.... (the first two days)

Confucius once said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". In our case it begins with a 6 hour plane ride, a 6 hour bus ride, another 6 hour bus ride, and an hour boat ride. We left Racine at 3Am on Monday morning for O'Hare. I say farwell to my dog, Sadie, and my parents gave us a ride down. For whatever reason we needed to go to Philly then change planes and fly to Cancun. Hopefully a sign of things to come, Cramer and I are upgraded to first class for our flight to Cancun. When karma smiles on you, the only thing to do is smile back and enjoy the shit out of it. Sipping cocktails and reclining in wide leather seats is the only way to travel.

From there we jump on a bus to Playa Del Carmen which is about an hour ride. I've been to Playa before and it's a cool city, but we only have time to walk down the main strip with all the stores, bars, and restaurants. We have to haul ass to another bus station and catch another bus to Chetumal in about an hour. We hop on the next bus and off we go to Chetumal. Chetumal is the last Mexican city along the Caribbean before you hit Belize. It's a pretty big city, population of about 150,000 and we roll in about 10pm. A Taxi drops us off by a bunch of hotels and we start looking for a cheap room. Cramer has a recommendation about a place called the UCUM Hotel. Pronounced Oow-Coom, not You Come, you sick people!!! Hahaha. It's a basic little room but with two beds and a restroom, but it's all we need for $20.

We hit the street wanting some cold beers and street food. Its warm and muggy and there is a calm in the air. I'm excited to finally be relaxing instead of traveling. There isn't much action and there are only a few people wondering around, mostly locals. We grab a 6 pack of Sol from the corner store and park ourselves in some chairs right by the Al Pastor cart. Time to grab some tacos and pound some beers. I've had street food tacos in Mexico before, but this is some of the best I've ever had. If you've never had tacos Al Pastor you're missing out. Its very authentic, spicy pork with chopped up pineapple topped with onion and cilantro on a soft corn tortilla. I put some red sauce on my tacos and Cramer does the same. Two local guys are watching, just laughing. I think I know what that means. This is going to be fricking hot! My tongue is on fire and the sweat is pourning off my brow. After each taco I slam a Sol to cool off my mouth. Cramer looks like he just ran a few miles. Note to self, try the hot sauce first before lathering it on. We hang out there for a good couple of hours. I end up buying a few more beers down the street and Cramer scores a few more tacos. Lots of locals are all coming up and buying food as we sit there, which is always a good sign. Don't go where all the tourists are, go where all the locals are if you want good food. We cross the street and head back to the UCUM for the night.



Day 2
The plan is to get on a water taxi from Chetumal to San Pedro then to Caye Caulker, which are islands in Belize. Unfortunately when we get to the dock the lady tells us that due the the severe weather the last few day the water taxi is shut down for the day. It has been raining pretty good on and off since we got here. But it was really coming down hard as we slept last night. Change of plans. Looks like we're going to have to get on a Chicken Bus to Belize City instead and try to catch a boat from there to Caye Caulker. Chicken buses are old school buses that operate down in Central America like public transportation and are pretty cheap. Instead of a 3 hour boat ride it's going to be a 5 hour bus ride and another hour by boat once we get to Belize City. At first the bus only has a few people on it and the windows are all open. We're cruising down the road checking out the local scenery with the wind blowing in our face. I'm almost tempted to tell Cramer this is pretty awesome. It doesn't take long before the bus picks up a bunch more people on the way. The whole bus is packed, two people to every seat. Suddenly is starts to rain. Windows Up! Oh Crap. The temperature and humidity climb exponentially and the sweat begins to pour. I don't know if I can make another 3 hours of this and my ass isn't going to hold up either!

Once we enter Belize and get closer to Belize City I notice that Belize is a mix of Mexico and Jamaica. You have a lot of Hispanics and others people of African decent. Many of the black Belizeans speak with the Creole accent like in Jamaica and many of them look pretty rasta'd out. I don't know why but I like seeing the more diverse population of Belize. English is the official language in Belize, so it is cool to be able to communicate easier. We make it to Belize City which is a pretty big city along the coast. It's the largest city in the Belize at a population of about 70,000. We're not going to be spending any time here though. We take a taxi to the dock and buy a ticket out to Caye Caulker. We grab lunch at Anna's Lunch Box on the dock before leaving. A really awesome creole influenced meal of rice and beans, spicy stewed chicken, and potato salad. Two Belikins to wash it all down and a big piece of chocolate cake. I start talking to a Belizean guy name Herman on the dock. He is a really cool guy, he tells us he works educating people in Belize about HIV. He's going to San Pedro the large more expensive island to help out and work with some of his family there.


After about a 45 minute boat ride we disembark on Caye Caulker! Finally. James, a local guy, guides us to an awesome room at at place called the China Town Hotel. We have the penthouse suite for $40/ night. The room is pretty small, it has two beds, a TV, a fridge, and AC! But the kicker is the room is on the top floor and the whole roof top is pretty much ours to hang out on. Great view, great breeze and AC. Done and Done.


Cramer and I start drinking some rum which is $5 a bottle down here. We end up meeting a girl named Grace and hang out with her for the night. She is a student at University of Cincinnati, just finishing up a month long archaeological dig with 19 other people in the jungles of Belize. She was ecstatic to be back into civilization after living in a tent in the jungle for so long. All three of us hang out drinking rum late into the night before finally heading to bed around 2am.